“Judgement Day Amnesia”
Text: Matthew 25:31-46
11-26-2023
In the name of our returning Judge and King, dear friends in Christ. Every now and then a story comes out in the news about a man or woman who suddenly disappears, leaving behind a family, their job, and their whole life. Then, years later, that person is located elsewhere, living a totally new life with a different spouse and kids. And the reason for their desertion of that previous life? Amnesia, or so they say. I’m plagued {or blessed} with a very suspicious mind and I highly doubt such claims.
In case you don’t know, amnesia is when a person can’t remember some or all of their past. In some cases, it’s caused by trauma to the head. I ministered to a man in Ft. Wayne who had a bad car accident and he couldn’t recall the previous 24 hours or so. It slowly came back to him. Sometimes amnesia is caused by a nervous disorder or a traumatic event like witnessing a horrible crime. It can be a defense mechanism for coping with psychological trauma, preventing the person from going insane.
So you see, there are people who intentionally “forget” their past by faking amnesia and there are also those who truly can’t remember because of something that happened to them. Well, in the Gospel Lesson, Jesus describes for us the scene of when He returns to earth. And as He passes judgment on people He says there will be a sort of Judgment Day amnesia. The righteous believers won’t remember any of the care and kindness they showed to others. And unbelievers won’t remember all the times they neglected people in need.
Now why is that? Why don’t they remember? Well, let’s start with the unbelievers. In our cold, cruel world it’s easy to become calloused to the suffering of others. So, as a survival tactic, many unbelievers intentionally forget those opportunities to help people in need. To be fair, many of those non-Christians are well behaved and make great neighbors. They might give to the poor, visit the sick, and care for the needy. So why doesn’t Jesus recognize that at least some of the time they did nice things? The answer is, due to their lack of faith they failed to serve Christ as they were doing those things. If a person were to go so far as to live a life of service caring for the sick and poor like Mother Teresa, but didn’t do it out of faith, then it doesn’t count worth a hill of beans.
Jesus identifies those folks on the left as goats. I’ve had some experience raising sheep in the past, but never goats. That is, until the day a neighbor asked me to help him load up his billy goat. Afterwards my clothes stunk unlike anything I had smelled before! The sheep I’ve been around never smelled like that. Maybe that’s why Jesus chose these 2 animals for His parable. The Bible says that all our “righteous acts are like filthy rags” if they are an attempt to justify ourselves before God. In other words, they stink to the high heavens. But if those righteous deeds are done by faith, then they are pleasing and acceptable before God. St. Paul says in the Epistle reading, “Remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love…” Faith in Jesus Christ is what must produce those acts of kindness for them to be worth anything.
Doesn’t it sound odd that in our Gospel reading Jesus says “I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was sick, I was in prison. Whatever you did, or did not do, for one of the least of these, you did it to me”? Christ wasn’t just using a figure of speech here. As hard as it is for us to comprehend, Jesus locates Himself in human suffering. He is hidden in the very people and unpleasant situations that surround us. In a very real sense, when we help someone who is suffering or in need, Christ is the recipient of those acts of mercy and kindness. And when people neglect to help, it is Jesus Himself they are neglecting. Our world is filled with so much pain and sorrow that the opportunities are endless for serving Him by helping others.
But why can’t the believers remember all the acts of kindness they did out of faith? Well, they had Judgment Day amnesia. A true believer doesn’t do nice things in order to win brownie points with God. No. In fact, the righteous believers in our text sound surprised that Jesus would thank them for the merciful things they had done. That’s because when a believer looks at themself, they know how terribly inadequate they’ve been. So they trust in Christ’s righteousness to cover over all their sinful failures. That’s why they can’t recall the kind things they’ve done. They’re not focused on their actions to justify themselves, but on Christ to justify them.
Having said all that, we now need to ask some tough questions. Have we allowed ourselves to become calloused to the suffering in the world around us? Do we have intentional “amnesia” that causes us to ignore people in need? I know, I know. We all get bombarded with requests to help feed the hungry, supply clothes and shelter for the poor, help the victims of earthquakes and hurricanes, provide clean water and medicine in third world countries and dozens of other worthy causes. And since there are tons of scams going on out there posing as reliable charities, it’s difficult not to get cynical or overwhelmed. But even so, it’s not an excuse to completely shut down. We just need to be discerning as Christians. It’s not wrong to inquire about the legitimacy of a charity. If they are legit, they’ll gladly provide proof of how they spend your donations. Try it the next time you’re not sure about an organization. Ask for their yearly financial statement so you can see where the money goes. Trust me, it will weed out many of the fakes. One of the safest ways we can help during disasters is through the Missouri Synod’s World Relief.
Well, that addresses the global and the national level. But we need to look at the suffering that Christ calls us to address right here in our own community, and yes, our own congregation. Jesus identified the needy as the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick and those in prison. But He didn’t mean that list to be exhaustive. We can reverently add to it: “I was a lonely widow or shut-in. I was a struggling single parent. I was mourning the death of a loved one. I lost my job. I was a teenager in trouble. I was depressed and needed someone to talk to. I was forgotten or rejected by my family.” And that’s just a few of the additional needs I came up with. Add that to the list Jesus already gave us and you can see that we have lots of opportunities to serve Christ in the hurting people all around us.
As a Pastor, one of my greatest joys is ministering to hurting people like I just named. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I cannot possibly reach everyone who’s suffering out there. And besides that, it’s not supposed to be just me. Christ has called each one of us to help with acts of kindness and mercy. I truly believe that most of you do want to help but you don’t know where or how. So let me give you some practical suggestions that you can pray about and hopefully act upon.
Every week in the Messenger we list the shut-ins and pray for them. Have you tried visiting any of them? Their lives can get very lonely. Christ is there, in them, waiting for you to break through that loneliness. When a loved one dies, the family is usually inundated with an outpouring of sympathy and care. But when things quiet down, they feel forgotten. It hurts when a special day like a birthday or anniversary rolls around. Christ is there, in them, waiting for you to remember them with a phone call or a visit. Quite often nowadays, people are quickly sent home from the hospital to finish their recovery. Christ is there, in them, waiting for you to call and offer your help around the house. You can’t possibly know everyone who is depressed, or in trouble, or out of a job. But you do know some of them. Sometimes the best thing we can do is just give them a hug and let them know we’re sincerely praying for them. Christ is there, in them, waiting for you to reach out and listen and help where you can.
When we do see a need that we can help with, so often we shy away from acting on it because we’re afraid we won’t say or do the right thing. You may think that a Pastor has all this down pat but I don’t. All it takes is a willing and compassionate heart filled with the love of Christ.
There’s one more important dimension to this that we need to remember. Human needs are not just physical or emotional. On the contrary, as Christians we know that our greatest needs are spiritual. And it’s no coincidence that there is a spiritual dimension to feeding, giving water, clothing, and caring for the sick and imprisoned. Scripture uses all of these as metaphors for the Gospel and what it does for us. By sharing the good news of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection with people who are starving spiritually, you are providing the bread and water of eternal life. By bringing them to Jesus, you help clothe their sinful, naked shame with Christ’s own righteousness. There are those who are spiritually sick and imprisoned with guilt. By bringing them the comfort of God’s forgiveness, you can provide healing for diseased souls and release for those who are captive to sin.
Through those who are in need or hurting, Christ is there, in them, waiting for us to serve Him by serving others. Recognizing that by faith in Jesus we are made righteous, it empowers and motivates us with His sacrificial love to serve the unseen Christ in the needs and troubles of people around us. May God bless us with Christian amnesia as we do these acts of mercy out of love for our Savior. And may God in His mercy continue to bless us with the eyes of faith which see Christ in those who are hurting, from now until that day when we all see Him in glory. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!